This course has two basic components: a) an introduction to the
branch of historical inquiry known as Historiography; b) an introduction
to some basic historical research methods.

a) Historiography is the history of historical writing. We will focus on how
people in "western civilizations" have understood the meaning and purposes of history,
beginning with the ancient Greeks. We also will study how
methods of "doing" history have
changed, particularly during the past 200 years.

b) Historians ask questions about the past, which they try to answer on the
basis of research. To do this, historians must learn how to read for
argument (how to know what another historian is arguing), how to ask historical questions,
and how to find historical sources. We will devote considerable attention to
these critical skills. The culmination of this course will be the production of
introductory papers on your own individual research projects.

Your grade will be based upon: Class Participation (10 percent); a Multi-Part Library Assignment
(total of 10 percent); Definition of Research Topic and Research Question (total
of 10 percent); a Common Reading Précis Assignments (total of 10 percent); an Individual
Reading Précis Assignment (10 percent); a Primary Source Locator Assignment (10
percent); a Historiographic Essay
(20 percent); and a
Research Proposal (20 percent).

Absence/Late
Paper Policy: I will
consider as "excused" absences only those medical, family, or activity
related events (etc.) that the student has discussed with me in advance
and/or that are documented by the university administration. I will accept
no late papers and I will give no
"make up" assignments unless the student has an excused absence.

Paper Form

All papers for
this course must be written in a standard 12 point font (I prefer Times Roman),
with one inch margins. Put your name in the top right hand corner of the
page. All pages must be numbered. Staple papers in the top left hand
corner.

All quotations
must be placed in quotation marks and all quotations, paraphrases, and direct
summaries must be accompanied by endnotes in proper form. See On Plagiarism vs Quoting and
On Endnote Form. Note that there are far
more detailed instructions on quoting and paraphrasing in Rampolla, chapters 6
and 7.

A "Do Not Do!"
list: Do not "double-skip" between paragraphs; do not skip lines before
starting your first paragraph; do not use fancy or unusual fonts!

This
class is organized as a seminar.My
minimum expectation is that you attend every class having completed
all readings for
the week. Study questions on the readings are linked to the weekly schedule of assignments (below). You are
to answer these questions as you read and bring your answers to class. Your grade will be based upon the quality of your contributions
to class discussions.
I reserve the option of giving short in-class quizzes on the assigned readings;
if I do so, these will be calculated in to your discussion grade.

Your participation grade will fall in direct ratio to the
percentage of class meetings that you miss.

Multi-Part
Library Assignment (total of 10 percent)

Linked to the syllabus is an Multi-Part Library
Assignment. The assignment is designed to help you develop skills and habits
necessary to conduct your own research projects.

The assignment is divided into two basic sections:
Section A (Secondary Sources); and Section B (Primary Sources). Each
Section has several parts, which
require you to complete a number of tasks.
Be sure to read the directions for each part carefully before beginning that
portion of the assignment!

You must complete each portion of
the assignment on schedule (see the weekly schedule of readings and
assignments). You will get credit for a portion of the
assignment only if you have completed that portion of the assignment
correctly, according to the instructions.
If you have made errors, you will have two days (after I return your paper) to
correct that portion of the assignment. If, when you turn in the revised
paper, it
is correct, then you will receive credit; if
not, you will receive no credit.

If you complete the entire library assignment (all 11 parts)
correctly, you will receive full credit (10 percent of the course grade). Your
grade will fall in direct ratio to the number of portions you fail to complete
correctly.

Definition of
Research Topic and Research Questions (total of 10 percent)

You must pick a topic for your own preliminary research
project. You won't be writing a full primary-source based research paper
on this topic this semester (that is what students do in 42.398, Research and
Writing Skills). Instead, you will do the "background" research on your
topic--you will study what other historians have written on the topic, and you
will begin to identify primary sources on the topic.

Definition of Research Topic:
Think about a research topic about which you are interested, and about which you
are able to
identify a large number of secondary sources. It is important to choose a
topic that will hold your interest, because this topic will be the focus of more than half of
your assignments, which account for more than half of your grade.

It also is important to choose a topic that it "do-able."
Students often try to do research on topics that are simply too broad ("the
history of the Civil War") or too narrow ("the participation of firemen in the
Bloomsburg Fourth of July celebration in 1865").
To ensure that you choose a feasible topic, I require that you:

Schedule a brief conference with me to discuss your
topic.

At the conference, present me with a clear written statement of your
research topic. This should be no more than a paragraph, in complete and
grammatical sentences.

At the conference, present me with a reading list of secondary
sources that includes at least 15 sources on your topic (scholarly books and
scholarly journal
articles only), in proper bibliographic form (see Rampolla, chapter 7, part
d-2).

{You don't have to read all of these books and article
before you turn in the reading list, but you should start reading them as soon
as possible!}

If I approve of your topic and your reading list, you
will receive full credit (5 percent).

If I do not approve of your topic and reading list, you
will repeat the process until I approve of your topic/reading list.

Definition of Research Questions: Having a
topic is only the most rudimentary starting point for historical research; to
carry out serious research, you need to define the questions that you hope to
answer. The questions shape the types of primary sources you must pursue
and how you will analyze those sources.
To write a research proposal (one of the requirements of this course), you
must have clear research questions.

Students sometimes try to ask questions that are simply
to big to answer in a one semester research project ("how has the influence of
big oil companies shaped US foreign policy since World War Two?"), or that are
not answerable on the basis of historical research (e.g., because they
are really philosophical questions, like "was Stalin more evil than Hitler?"),
or that simply have been done to death, so that the student is unlikely to learn
anything "new" (e.g., "Why did Truman drop the A-bomb?" or "Who really killed
JFK?").

You really can't start defining clear questions if you
haven't read much about your topic. So I STRONGLY suggest that you begin
reading the books and articles on you secondary source reading list as soon as
possible.

To prevent you from spending a lot of time on a dead-end
project, I want to be sure that you define your questions as clearly as
possible (given the early stage of your research). I require that you:

Schedule a brief conference with me to discuss your
research questions.

At that conference, present me with a clear written
definition of your main
research questions. This should be no more than a paragraph, in complete
and grammatical sentences.

If your questions are clear, well-focused, and appear
answerable on the basis of historical research, you will receive full credit (5
percent).

If your questions are not clear, well-focused, and
answerable, you will repeat the process until I approve of your questions.

DUE DATES:

Definition of research topic and reading list approval,
by the end Week IV

Definition of research questions,
by the end of Week VI.

Common Reading
Précis Assignments (total of 10 percent)

A précis is a very concise
summary. Historians (like all thinking persons) must learn to "read
for argument" (in other words, to read in a way that focuses on understanding
the author's main point, called the "thesis"). Remember that historians
interpret evidence of the past; they make arguments about what the "facts"
are and what the "facts" mean. To understand history and historiography,
you must read for argument as well as for "facts." Writing a
précis of an article, chapter, or book requires that you grasp the author's main
point and boil it down to a brief explanation.

At the course
session at which we complete discussion of Breisach, each of you will chose a
chapter (by lottery), on which you will write an in-class précis.

Without quoting the author at all, you must explain the author's
thesis (main point) in this chapter in one or two paragraphs.

Begin your paper by stating as
clearly as possible the fundamental question that the author is trying to
answer in the chapter.

Then explain as clearly as
possible the main point the author makes in answering that question.

You can use your
notes to write this in-class précis. So it is in your best interest to
take good notes both when you are reading the book and when we discuss each
chapter.

Remember, I want you to explain
the thesis; don't simply describe the topic of the chapter!

If you don't understand the assignment, be sure to talk to me before
this class session!

I will grade
each précis on the basis of its logic, clarity, and
accuracy.

The assignment will
count for 5 percent of your course grade.

PROBABLE DUE DATE:
Weds. of Week VIII

--------------------------------

Common
Reading Précis Assignment 2 will focus on Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt, and Margaret Jacob, Telling the Truth About
History. Each chapter in this book
constitutes a coherent essay. Your task in this assignment it to write a
one-page précis of Chapter 4 of
Telling the Truth About History.

Without quoting the authors at all, you must explain the authors'
thesis (main point) in this chapter in one or two paragraphs.

Begin your paper by stating as
clearly as possible the fundamental question that the authors are trying to
answer in the chapter.

Then explain as clearly as
possible the main point the authors make in answering that question.

Remember, I want you to explain the thesis;
don't simply describe the topic of the chapter!

If you don't understand the assignment, be sure to talk to me before you
start writing!

I will grade
each précis on the basis of its logic, clarity, and
accuracy.

DUE DATE: Week X

Individual
Reading Précis
Assignment (10 percent)

You will chose one book from your secondary source reading list on which you will write a précis.
Again, it
would be a good idea to start reading the books and articles on your list ASAP!

The book on which you write your précis must
be one of the books on your research topic approval reading list, and it must
meet the following criteria:

a secondary source

a monograph in book form

published by a scholarly press

In a one-page précis:

Without quoting the author at all, you must explain the author's
thesis (main point) in one or two paragraphs (max.
length of one page).

At the head of your paper, identify the author, title,
and publication information for the book using proper bibliography form (Rampolla,
7-d2).

Begin your paper by stating as
clearly as possible the fundamental question that the author is trying to
answer in the book.

Then explain as clearly as
possible the main point the author makes in answering that question.

Remember, I want you to explain
the thesis; don't simply describe the topic of the book.

If you do not understand
the assignment, be sure to talk to me before you
start writing!

DUE DATE: Week XI

I will grade
each précis on the basis of its logic, clarity, and
accuracy.

Primary Source Locator Assignment (10
percent)

To write a paper based upon your own original research, you need to locate
primary sources. This paper is designed to get you started in the search
for primary sources related to your research topic.

1. Locate and identify a primary source collection or database related to
and useful for your research topic.

2. Schedule a conference with me to discuss your primary source.

3. At the conference, present me with a written identification
the source collection in correct bibliographic form (see Rampolla, 7-d2).
If I approve, then you can go on to step 3; if I do not approve, then you must
repeat steps 1-2.

3. Write a brief (2-3 page) paper that:

in its heading identifies the source collection in correct
bibliographic form (see Rampolla, 7-d2)

describes in detail the sorts of information found in this source
collection

explains the kinds of research questions you can address using this collection
and why this evidence allows you to address these questions.

REMEMBER, I am asking you to identify a collection of sources, not one
specific document! For instance, you can use entire volume of published
memoirs or autobiographies, but you can not use excerpts from a published memoir
or a short memoir/autobiographical sketch; you can
use an on-line collection of dozens of archival documents, but you can not use
an on-line collection with 3-4 documents (etc.).

I will grade your paper on the basis of its logic and clarity and your use
of correct form.

DUE DATES:

You must meet with me for approval of primary source by Week XI at the
latest

The deadline for turning in the paper is the end of Week XII

Historiographic Essay (20 percent)

In this paper, you must explain what historians have argued about your topic.
You must explain how historical
interpretations on your topic have changed over time, and you must explain the differences between various “schools” of
historical interpretation regarding your
topic. In other words,
you need to compare and contrast what
many historians have argued about your topic, and you need to think like a
historian about why interpretations have changed.

Preparing for
your paper:

You must
analyze at least 20 secondary sources (scholarly
books and articles in scholarly journals, excluding book reviews and general
textbooks!).

Your
secondary sources must include a representative sample of works written
about your topic over a broad period of time. (For instance, if you are
writing about the Civil War, you will want to look at works from the "Gilded
Age," the Progressive Era, the 1940s-1950s, the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s,
etc..)

Keep very
careful bibliographic records on your sources (remember the information you
wrote down for each book and article in the Library Assignment?).

As you read each book and
article,
be sure that you take careful notes on the
author's thesis, the types of sources the author uses, the relationship between
the author's argument and other historical interpretations, etc.
Be sure that your notes indicate the exact page numbers for key quotations,
etc.

As you read,
take notes on the the relative strengths and weaknesses of each work.

As you read,
think
about how these historians' questions and interpretations have changed over time
and try to fit the authors' interpretations fit into "groups" or
"schools." Think about the categories of historical schools
discussed by Breisach and in Appleby, et. al.. Very often you will find that historians have formed
very clear "schools" of thought on your topic, which are discussed
overtly in your secondary
sources.

Writing your
paper:

Your paper
must present and defend a thesis--your argument about the major trends or
schools in historical interpretation of your general research topic.

Remember,
your goal is to make an argument about the historiography on your
topic, not about the topic itself.

In defending
your thesis, you must present detailed evidence from your secondary sources.
These must include properly identified and properly cited quotations from your
secondary sources.

To support your argument, you must analyze the development of the
historiography on your topic either chronologically or thematically (by historiographic “school”),
in a manner that traces changes and explains differences in interpretation.

You must
provide proper endnote citations to all sources quoted, paraphrased, or
summarized in your paper. Your notes must be precise; they must refer to
the specific sections and pages of works that demonstrate the interpretations
you are examining in your paper.

Your paper must be at least 5 pages long, not counting the endnotes.

I will grade this paper on the basis of the logic of your argumentation,
the clarity of your presentation, the
accuracy of your analysis of secondary sources, the use of appropriate sources,
and your use of proper form for quotations and endnotes.

DUE DATE: Week XV

Research Proposal (20 percent)

Writing a formal research proposal requires that you think carefully about the questions you wish to answer in your
research, why those questions are important, how they relate to what other
historians have written, and what specific (existing) sources you will need for
your research.

Your research proposal for this course builds upon your earlier
assignments, so you have already done most of the work.

You will write a brief proposal--an essay with a target length of 5 pages
(not counting the bibliography) that
explains the following:

The general area of history addressed by your research (e.g., the
history of the Great Depression in the United States).

Your specific research topic (e.g., ethnic and religious tensions in Pennsylvania mining
communities towns during strikes and other labor conflicts in the 1930s).

The precise questions you will address in your research (e.g., how did
employers manipulate such tensions as a anti-union strategy, and how did union
organizers act to build multi-ethnic/multi-religious alliances).

How your question relates to issues raised/discussed by other
historians who have worked on similar/related topics; in other words, what do the secondary sources say?
(Use the main ideas explained in your historiographic
essay.)

Why this question is worth answering from an historian's viewpoint (how
would your project contribute to our understanding of the topic?).

What primary sources you will use to answer this question.

What methods of analysis will you use to draw answers out of the
primary sources.

You will attach to the proposal a typed bibliography that follows the
guidelines in Rampolla, chapter 7, part d-2. This bibliography must include
all primary and secondary sources that you have identified related to your
research.

Your bibliography should be divided into a section for Primary Sources and
a section for Secondary Sources.

I will grade your proposal on the basis of its logic, clarity,
and coverage of the issues detailed above; I will grade your bibliography on the
basis of your use of accurate form. The proposal will account for 75
percent of the assignment grade and the bibliography for 25 percent of the
assignment grade.

DUE DATE: FINAL EXAM SESSION

Weekly Schedule and Links to Study Questions:

I may alter the dates of some assignments during the
semester--if I do so, I will post any changes on this syllabus.

Option--Early Completion of Definition of Research Topic
and Readings List (requires short individual conference). Before defining
your topic, be sure that you have read Rampolla, Chapter 4; before finalizing
your reading list, be sure to read Rampolla, chapter 2, section B-2. You
may also find Appendix B helpful.

Option--Early Completion of Definition of Research Topic and Readings List
(requires short individual conference). Before defining your topic, be sure that
you have read Rampolla, Chapter 4; before finalizing your reading list, be sure
to read Rampolla, chapter 2, section B-2. You may also find Appendix B
helpful.

Week
V: History in the Early 19th
Century and Introduction to Modern Historiography

Deadline for Definition of Research Topic and
Readings List (requires short individual conference). Before defining your
topic, be sure that you have read Rampolla, Chapter 4; before finalizing your
reading list, be sure to read Rampolla, chapter 2, section B-2. You may
also find Appendix B helpful. DEADLINE EXTENDED TO
NEXT WEEK